The Lord’s presence is special. I know people get excited to sit with people who they think are gifted, talented, or great, but I can tell you there is nothing like the Lord’s presence. For us, God’s presence exists in two realities: his manifest presence and his omnipresence. When you put the two head-to-head, manifest present vs. omnipresence, they serve different purposes in a person’s life.
God’s omnipresence means he is present in all places at all times. Another way to think about it is God is everywhere at the same time. This reality caused David to write these words in the Psalms: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8).
No matter where you go, you can never escape God’s presence. That’s why nothing is ever hidden from God. He is present everywhere, all the time, and he knows exactly what you are doing.
So, how does this differ from his manifest presence? I’m glad you asked. The difference lies in your awareness. Even though God is present everywhere, his manifest presence is when you realize it. In these moments, you sense and recognize God is near, and you are usually confronted with some aspect of God’s character. It could be his power, holiness, or love, but regardless, you can know and sense God is here. I can tell you many occasions where I sensed the Lord’s presence when I walked into a church, during a service, or even during personal worship. What I was experiencing was his manifest presence.
Typically, when you feel God’s manifest presence, something shifts, something changes, or something happens. God doesn’t just show up for no reason or purpose. When he manifests his presence, there is something he wants to do in your life. This could be to encourage, convict, strengthen, heal, save—whatever he desires to do.
Many years ago, when I was a teenager, our youth group from church went to an outdoor Christian festival called Fishnet. This event took place over four days, and you could enjoy many Christian speakers, singers, and other events. Because this was an outdoor event, we slept in tents and sleeping bags. Nature surrounded us, and you could see God’s handiwork everywhere.
When we got there, we had one major problem that affected everyone. It was raining. It continued to rain nonstop for two days. Imagine sleeping in a tent when it is rainy, cold, and the ground is muddy. We were miserable.
By the second night’s end, the rain finally stopped, and we built a campfire and sat around it. At first, we talked, then we started singing and worshipping God. As we did this, something shifted. God’s presence became real, and we could feel him in our midst.
This was when the atmosphere shifted to God manifesting his presence. As we continued in worship, something changed in our hearts, and we became less focused on the conditions around us and more focused on worshipping God and drawing near to him. As God was manifesting his presence, he was shifting the conditions of our hearts, causing us to forget about our miserable conditions for the last two days. He enveloped us with his joy, peace, presence, and comfort.
There was something that happened as we continued to pray and worship that has kept me in awe even until this day. While praying and seeking God, I remember lying on the ground (still wet from the rain). I was wearing a white shirt and lying face up, but I did not think about it because I was enjoying God’s presence. As I was coming to the end of praying, I realized I was lying on the muddy ground wearing a white shirt. At that point, I thought, “this shirt will probably be a mess.” However, when I got up, the shirt was completely dry. There was not a speck of dirt on it. God manifested his presence, and something happened. The biggest part was God’s work in all our hearts as he ministered to us and turned the rest of that trip into a special moment in our lives. The clean shirt was simply a bonus God added.
I hope you don’t think it is strange that God manifests his presence in his people’s lives. He did it in the Bible and continues to do it today. In Acts 4, after Peter and John were threatened by the Sanhedrin and told not to preach in the name of Jesus anymore, they returned and reported what happened to the other believers. Their response to this situation was they prayed. Here is what happened.
“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:31)
Because of their praying, God manifested his presence, and something shifted, something changed, and something happened.
I want to caution you: these dramatic occurrences don’t always happen when God manifests his presence. The ground may not shake. Your clothes may not be dry after lying in the mud. You don’t run after experiences; you seek to encounter God’s presence. Sometimes God will manifest his presence with quiet, inward tugs on your heart. So don’t go looking for enormous signs. Simply pay attention to what God is doing in your heart. Sometimes that nudge in your spirit to turn the television off or put the book down and go pray is God trying to draw you into his presence so he can minister directly to you.
God’s manifest presence is most often connected to prayer and worship. The Bible declares in James 4:8, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
If God is always everywhere, why must you draw near to him? When you understand, you will understand the difference between his manifest presence and his omnipresence. Drawing near to God brings you into a place of communion with him, and it is in this place you find everything you need. You find joy, grace, strength, peace, conviction, repentance, love, healing, and everything you need in his manifest presence. You also find direction, protection, and comfort. When God shows up, he brings all these things and everything you need.
Believers and unbelievers experience God’s presence for different reasons. God’s manifest presence in the unbeliever’s life primarily serves to lead them to repentance. God’s omnipresence can make you aware he exists, but his manifest presence brings conviction of sin. That’s why God is not interested in simply giving you some goosebump experience, then you going on your merry way. God’s manifest presence goes much deeper than that. When God shows up in the unbeliever’s life, it is to make them aware of their sin and to move them toward repentance. In these moments, God’s manifest presence draws their attention to God’s holiness and love. God’s holiness makes them aware of their sin, and God’s love draws them to a place of repentance.
God’s manifest presence may serve several purposes in the believer’s life. It could be to provide those things I mentioned earlier or something completely different. However, you should know when God shows up, he has a purpose. He wants to engage you to change you.
The way God manifests his presence is by the Holy Spirit. Anytime you sense God’s presence, you sense the Holy Spirit at work. As believers, your spiritual antenna goes up because the Holy Spirit lives inside you. This goes back to God’s omnipresence. Wherever you go, the Holy Spirit goes with you. When he desires to manifest himself more in your life, the goal is to make you more aware of his presence in your life. He does this to empower, encourage, or transform areas in your life so you can be more like Christ.
Being in God’s presence is your best place, and we should desire it more than anything else. As you seek God, don’t worry about signs, wonders, miracles, or any outward expressions that have become what people want to seek after. Simply seek God and long for his presence to manifest so you can be in communion with him. If those things happen, wonderful. But desire to enjoy his presence. Let him move and do what he desires to do. When you do that, you will encounter God in rich and wonderful ways that will transform your life, strengthen you for the journey, and ultimately make you more like Christ in your daily life.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Arthit_Longwilai
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